The NCPA "Festival Waltz 2025" kicked off grandly on January 25th to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. Early that evening, the NCPA was blasted into a highly festive atmosphere with red lanterns raised high against bright lights.
Light turned on at the concert hall, LÜ Jia mounted the podium amidst the cheers and raised his baton over the Chinese NCPA Orchestra to start the concert with Johann Strauss II’s
Eine Nacht in Venedig Ouvertüre. This year marks the 200
th anniversary of the birth of Johann Strauss II, “Der König ohne Krone”. So, the concert would unquestionably feature many of his classics, including
Melodien-Quadrille,
Vergnügungszug,
Emperor Waltz,
Tritsch-Tratsch Polka and
Frühlingsstimmen Walzer. The lively rhythm and beautiful melody made the audience feel vibrant spring.
Another member of the Strauss family in Vienna - Josef Strauss’
Auf Ferienreise, Polka Schnell was presented splendidly at the concert, as well. The children from the Beijing Philharmonic Choir also took the stage to interpret the classic melody of this work, suddenly filling the air with joyful rhythms and youthful vigour in a warmer atmosphere.
There came the familiar melody of
Let’s Paddle Together, with cheers breaking forth from the audience. This classic song, created by LIU Chi as the composer and QIAO Yu as the lyricist, has accompanied generations of the Chinese people. The China NCPA Orchestra and Beijing Philharmonic Choir gave a brilliant rendition of this song, endowing it with new vitality. The audience couldn’t help humming the tune, with the sound of singing echoing on the spot, pushing the atmosphere to a climax.
Additionally, Rachmaninoff’s song, Spring Tide, and Dilidili, created by PAN Zhensheng as the composer and WANG An as the lyricist, added special colours to the concert, too. These different styles of music were intertwined, giving birth to something marvellous. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Shostakovich. At the concert, selections from Shostakovich’s Suite No. 1, composed for the mixed orchestra, were also performed. Interpreted with feeling and virtuosity by the performers, Shostakovich’s music became so charming to the audience.
Concert over, the artists returned to the stage amidst applause and gave two festive encores - Singing About the Opera Faces and Spring Festival Overture, exciting the audience overwhelmingly with the cheerful melody and breathtaking rhythm. At the very moment, the footprints of the old year were fading away in melodious music, while the first light of the new year was approaching slowly with soul-stirring musical notes.